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Chennai: In a major infrastructure upgrade aimed at eliminating traffic jams at toll plazas, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is set to launch a camera-based automated toll collection system on major stretches of the Chennai-Bengaluru National Highway and GST Road.
The initiative will replace traditional toll booths with Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras integrated with the FASTag platform, allowing vehicles to pass through toll booths without stopping.
The system, known as Multi-Lane Free Flow (MLFF), is designed to capture vehicle registration details at speeds of up to 150 kmph, ensuring seamless, congestion-free travel.
The new system will be first implemented at Nemili (Sriperumbudur) and Chennasamudram toll plazas on the Chennai-Bengaluru NH and Paranur toll plaza on the Tambaram-Villupuram section of the GST Road.
According to NHAI data, these busy corridors handle around 75,000 passenger car units every day.
Once activated, ANPR cameras will automatically record vehicle details and deduct the applicable toll amount from the driver’s FASTag account.
The move is expected to improve traffic flow on major intercity routes as well as drastically reduce travel time and fuel wastage.
Indian Highway Management Company Limited (IHMCL) under the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways will oversee the implementation.
It has already floated tenders to select an operator to design, develop and maintain the system for a period of five years.
Officials said the six-lane main carriageway will be completely open for traffic, with strategically placed overhead ANPR cameras and RFID readers for smooth toll collection.
“The system involves installation of complex equipment and will undergo multi-level verification before it becomes operational,” an official said.
Each camera will be capable of capturing clear images of number plates and short video clips from a distance of 40 metres, with additional RFID devices identifying vehicles up to 300 meters before they reach the toll point.
The contractor must complete the installation within 14 months of the work order. Officials said separate procedures to handle toll recovery from vehicles where automatic deduction fails will be notified later.
Once fully operational, the MLFF system is expected to make long queues at toll plazas a thing of the past, ushering in a new era of smart, faster and frictionless highway travel.
–IANS